Myths About Violence and Crime Debunked

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Is Drinking and Driving on the Rise? - Parrot of Doom
Is Drinking and Driving on the Rise? - Parrot of Doom
Are violence and crime on the rise? What are the statistics showing? What about those myths we hear about and wonder if they are true? Let's check them out.

Let's debunk some common myths about issues that deal with violence and crime in Canada.

Robberies and Burglaries

  • Most robberies happen between midnight and 3 a.m. FALSE. The Correctional Service of Canada sums it up best – “Robbery can happen to anyone, almost anywhere, at anytime.”

  • Hiding a spare key outside is a good idea as long as you hide it well. FALSE. According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, "Burglars know all the traditional hiding spots. Forget them all. You might as well just leave the key in the door. Your best bet is to leave the key with a trusted neighbour, or perhaps leave it somewhere on their property. Even if a burglar stumbled on the key, he or she wouldn't know what it opened."

  • Burglars can open a door with a credit card. TRUE. Just like you see in the movies, a burglar can pick a regular lock with a credit card in a few seconds. For added security, consider using deadbolts - they cannot be picked with a credit card.
Traffic and Driving Myths

  • Drinking and driving is on the rise. FALSE. According to The Road Safety Monitor 2009: Drinking and Driving, 863 people were killed due to drinking and driving in 2007, the most recent year for which data is available. In 2006 the figure was 908. In 1995, the number of people killed in crashes due to a drunk driver was 1,296. While the number of people being killed in crashes involving a drinking driver has been decreasing overall since 1995, progress has slowed in recent years and the number of people being killed is still unacceptable.

  • Traffic fatalities occur with greater frequency as speed goes up. TRUE. According to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario, your chances of being killed in a vehicle driving in excess of 120 km/h are four times greater than if you are driving 100 km/h.

  • Canadians are more concerned about the price of gas than drinking and driving. FALSE. According to the Traffic Injury Research Foundation’s study, The Road Safety Monitor 2009: Drinking and Driving, 79.2% of Canadians rate themselves as either very concerned or extremely concerned about drinking and driving. This is much higher than those who are similarly concerned about the price of gas (54.7%) or road safety (61.2%).

Miscellaneous Crime and Violence Myths

  • Child abductions by strangers (which leads to fears of “stranger danger”) is a huge problem in Canada. FALSE. The majority of missing children are runaways and the majority of abducted children are taken by a parent. According the RCMP article The Abduction of Children by Strangers in Canada: Nature and Scope by Marlene L. Dalley, less than one percent of child abductions are from someone unknown to the child.

  • Violence in the workplace is a concern these days. TRUE. A Statistics Canada report released in February 2007 reports that nearly one-fifth of all incidents of violent victimization, including physical assault, sexual assault and robbery, occurred in the victim's workplace.

  • Suicide is the leading cause of death among Canada’s teens. FALSE. Suicide in the second leading cause of death among our teenagers, according to Statistics Canada. The number one cause is motor vehicle accidents.

Popular topics

  • Vancouver is the most dangerous city in Canada when considering the homicide rate. FALSE. According to Statistics Canada, Regina has the highest homicide rate of all Canadian cities; 4.5 per 100,000 people.

  • Winnipeg is the safest city in Canada. FALSE. According to a Macleans article, The Rankings: Canada's Most Dangerous Cities by Ken MacQueen, for the second year in a row, Caledon, Ontario (40 km northwest of Toronto) is the safest city in Maclean’s annual crime ranking of Canada’s 100 largest cities. Its crime score is 87 per cent below the national average.

  • It is safer to fly commercial than drive to your destination. TRUE. Statistics have proven this to be true time and time again.

Hope you enjoyed learning the truth about these crime and violence myths.

To read about more debunked myths, check out:

Safety Myths About Children Debunked

Myths About Weather and the Environment Debunked

Safety Myths About Children Debunked

Debunking Food Myths

Myths About Our Bodies Debunked

Common Safety Myths Debunked

Toby Welch, Toby Welch

Toby Welch - Toby is a full-time freelance writer who specializes in magazine articles, online writing, e-books, and manuscript editing.

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Nov 28, 2010 1:13 AM
Guest :
Males commit more robberies than females. TRUE. The Correctional Service of Canada says that just 5% of people accused of robbery are female

Males are responsible for almost all crimes in far greater numbers than women. I think about 95% of the prison popluation are males. 90% of the murders are by males but at least most of those that are murdered are also male. When women murder, most of their victims are males also but I have to wonder if those males did not do something to provoke it. If a male is attacking a woman or her children I think she should have a right to kill the male. and as soon has it is evident that she was being attacked, the case should be closed. I would rather have a bunch of dead males than to have a woman or girl be raped

I am a male but I would vote for a law that allowed for the execution of males only in a heart beat. In reality, it would make little difference as in the US and if anything, it may increase the number of males executed but that would be OK with me even if it doubled the number of males as males often get away with murdering women and children without paying with their own life.

Death sentences and actual executions for female offenders are also rare in comparison to such events for male offenders. In fact, women are more likely to be dropped out of the system the further the capital punishment system progresses. Following in summary outline form are the data indicating this screening out effect:

* women account for about 1 in 10 (10%) murder arrests;
* women account for only 1 in 50 (2%) death sentences imposed at the trial level;
* women account for only 1 in 67 (1.5%) persons presently on death row; and
* women account for only 1 in 100 (1%) persons actually executed in the modern era

Since 1976, 1272 people were executed, and out of that 1260 of them have been male.


Violence in the workplace is a concern these days Again, almost all of those commiting violence have one thing in common, they have testicles. Very few women has done this.


Suicide in the second leading cause of death among our teenagers, For every girl that takes her own life,

The number one cause is motor vehicle accidents. 3 out of 4 of those that die in auto accidents are male. Males for one do a lot more stupid things which is one reason the winners of the Darwin Award (those that kill themselves doing dumb things) are almost ALL MALE! On top of this, since males are the weaker sex, males do not survive injury nearly as well as do women.

With all of this, there is no way even as a male, I can accept that males are the superior sex nor can I accept that males are equal to women. The only conclusion from this and so many other things I did not mention is that women are by far the superior gender and we males are by far the inferior gender.
Dec 17, 2010 11:08 PM
Guest :
In checking the link above (Statistics Canada,) we will find a link to Suicides and suicide rate, by sex and age group. This list will give a lot of support to the comment one person made

"The only conclusion from this and so many other things I did not mention is that women are by far the superior gender and we males are by far the inferior gender."

The link shows this to be true if we only look at suicides. Males take their own life more often at every age and often five males do so for each woman who does at some ages. After 65 even though women outnumber males by almost 2 to 1, still 4 times the number of males kill themselves.

It is also correct that 3 out of 4 traffic deaths are males and a major reason for this is because males do not survive major trauma as well as women do. It is also interesting that males get most of the Darwin Awards (I had to look up the Darwin Award website and it is true) but what is most interesting is that two males have essentially stated that women are superior to males and as a woman, I will not argue with that.
What as most surprising is that a male stated:
the winning army should kill 25 of the losing armies males for each woman they killed and it should be 50 of their males for each girl under 18 they killed

I appreciate the value placed upon women but this would certainly make males an endangered species. If it kept up at this rate, we could entirely deplete the male population and there would still be over ¾'s of the female population left.
Anyone else find it surprising that males would say these things? After all, most males think they are god's gift to women and they would never admit that women are superior.
Dec 31, 2010 1:21 AM
Guest :
I think the 2010 census will show that women are far more superior to us males if we males would admit it. If there are new crime stats, it should show what many here have said, that males are the ones doing it most of the time.

Although more males are born than girls, it is not long before there are more women than males. This alone shows women are superior biologically and the fact that women are surpassing males in almost every area shows women are superior in almost every area.

Again, I do hope the new census does show some of the many areas women are superior in and maybe more of the macho males will be able to admit that women are the superior gender. Personally, I would love for some research to come out that shows women are superior in even 95 or even 99% of the ways and that males are only superior in the rest, IF that much. It would make more sense on why we males have messed up so much of society and give a good reason for women to assume full control. Why not, women have surpassed males already so why not reconize it?
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